Bulldog bat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
fish-eating bat
.

Bulldog bats
Temporal range: Miocene to Recent
A greater bulldog bat, hanging on a cave wall
Greater bulldog bat (Noctilio leporinus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Suborder: Yangochiroptera
Superfamily: Noctilionoidea
Family: Noctilionidae
Gray, 1821
Genus: Noctilio
Linnaeus, 1766
Type species
Noctilio americanus
Species

N. leporinus

N. albiventris
†N. lacrimaelunaris

The

Caribbean islands. In these areas they can be found roosting in groups within hollow trees, caves, manmade homes, or other openings with enough space.[3][4] While the two species exhibit different social and foraging behaviors both tend to return to a main roosting spot while also visiting other alternative roosting spots. [3][4]

Description

The bulldog bats have orange to brown fur, and range in head-body length from 7 to 14 cm and weight of 20-75 g, which makes them quite large. They have relatively long legs, large feet (exceptionally so in the case of the greater bulldog bat), and strong claws. Their wings are long (up to 60 cm in spread) and narrow, and their ears are large, funnel shaped and pointed. Unusual among bats, they have cheek-pouches for storing food. They also have full lips divided by a fold of skin giving a 'hare lip' look which together with the cheek pouches gives them their bulldog-like appearance.

Their maxillae and premaxillae are fused for the strong support of the large upper medial incisors. Dental formula: 2/1, 1/1, 1/2, 3/3 = 28. The molars are tuberculosectorial. Unlike in other bats, the last cervical vertebra is not fused with the first thoracic. The wing second finger has a long metacarpal and a vestigial phalanx. The ischia are fused to each other and to the sacrum. The latter is keel-like. [5]

Ecology and behaviour

The species of lesser bulldog bats are insectivorous, and while the greater bulldog bats also eat insects, their chief food is fish.[6] They use their echolocation to pinpoint the ripples they make on the surfaces of water.[7]

The greater bulldog bat trawls the water with its long, curved talons approximately 2–3 cm below the surface. It makes sweeps of between 30 cm and 3 m before ascending and turning to make a return sweep. In a single night, the bat may catch 20-30 small fish in this way.[8]

References

  1. OCLC 62265494
    .
  2. ^ Naish, Darren. "Fossil Bat Stories, Part 3: Bulldog Bats".
  3. ^
    ISSN 1439-0310
    .
  4. ^
    JSTOR 1382280
    .
  5. ISBN 0-7216-9009-2
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-19-956799-7
    p466
  7. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5
    .
  8. Greenwood Press
    .

External links

    • Media related to Noctilio at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Noctilio at Wikispecies
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